Mother’s Day- Dine In or Dine Out?

Everyone likes to give mom a day off from cooking on Mother’s Day. Preparing a home cooked meal is nice. Treating her to a meal out at a favorite restaurant can be nicer, especially when it includes PIE!!. Marie Callender’s Restaurant and Bakery in Riverside, California recently invited me to try their new menu. No other compensation was given. All opinions are my own. Marie Callender’s has been a family favorite since I was a little girl. We used to go to the Toluca Lake, California location for family dinners and as I got older, it became a great place for girlfriend meet-ups. While I have always found their menu reasonable and delicious, I’m not going to lie: it was all about the pie!! Pie is hands down, my go-to, all time favorite dessert so a restaurant that specializes in pie is of course going to be a favorite. I was excited to be invited to Marie Callender’s in Riverside, California to be reacquainted with a familiar brand and to sample their new special meals–which also just happen to include a slice of pie.

Pasta and Pie Amore features four new pasta dishes, some with salad included, and all with your choice of pie, starting at $9.99. I thought this was a great value, especially since the serving portions were quite generous. I chose Baked Rigatoni with Caesar Salad. The pasta had a nice “bite” to it and just the right amount of sauce (not swimming in it). I always appreciate it when I request for dressing on the side for my salad and the server does not hesitate. What that means to me is that the salad is fresh, made to order.

My hardest decision of the night? Which pie to have from the over 30 choices on the menu. Traditional berry? Cream? Seasonal? Or their featured pie of the month: lemon cake pie, layers of lemon cake, zesty lemon filling, and cream cheese frosting in a flaky pie crust, finished with whipped cream. Wow!! What did I end up with? Well, it is Spring after all which means fresh strawberries are at their peak: fresh strawberry pie. Yummy.

One thing Marie Callender’s has always done right is customer service–and this evening was no different. The server was friendly, knowledgeable, and helpful–as was everyone else on staff. A very fun, relaxing, and tasty evening for me and seven other Southern California Lady Bloggers.

Returning to Marie Callender’s brought back great memories and was the beginning of new ones. Dine in or dine out? How will you be treating your mom this Mother’s Day?

Comments

We lived in VA for a little over 6 years, and every time I came to visit my mom I always insisted on going to Marie Callender’s because there are none back East. I am so happy to be home!!! I had a blast and those pictures are making my mouth water all over again.

We have usually dined out in the past, when we didn’t have kids and just took our moms out. Now that we have kids, dining in or take out is what’s convenient. For this Mother’s Day, we are having a picnic with both sides of the family. Maybe I’ll pick up my favorite Marie Callender’s pie, strawberry, and bring it to the picnic.

Ever since my mom moved to Texas, that is the one thing she always brings up–Marie Callenders. The closest one to her is 3 hours away now, so I always share with her when I go there.And believe me, I’ll be going really soon; that lemon cake pie sounds amazing!

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About Caryn

Hi. I'm Caryn, your Mid Life Guru -- an authentic and trusted mid-life voice sharing the wisdom I've gained in my first 50 years and adding to it new, relevant, and exciting information to get through the next 50.